Thursday, May 31, 2018
Fill in the blanks with words or letters that will complete the word or phrase beginning on the left and begin the word or phrase ending on the right. The number of blanks indicates the number of letters in the missing word.
1. OO _ _ RO
2. SQU _ _ ALONE
3. JURY _ _ _ LUNCH
4. HIGH _ _ _ GAIN
5. RUSH _ _ _ _ HAND
6. DUTY _ _ _ _ VERSE
7. TEEN _ _ _ _ WORSHIP
8. BICYCLE _ _ _ _ _ STORE
9. DRAW _ _ _ _ _ _ THEORY
10. BITTER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ MOON
HINTS:
The first of the missing letters:
1. Z
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. H
6. F
7. I
8. C
9. S
10. H
Answers:
1. ooZEro
2. squABalone
3. juryBOXlunch
4. highBARgain
5. rushHOURhand
6. dutyFREEverse
7. teenIDOLworship
8. bicycleCHAINstore
9. drawSTRINGtheory
10. bitterHARVESTmoon
1. BE
2. FRAY
3. DIVE
4. ACCENT
5. PRESENT
HINT:
The same two, consecutive letters, in the same order, will change each word to a new one.
Answer:
The letters ID can be inserted into each word to get a new one:
1. BIDE
2. FRIDAY
3. DIVIDE
4. ACCIDENT
5. PRESIDENT
Sunday, May 13, 2018
1. British waiting line
2. Ram's mate
3. A, B, ? - Vital trio
4. A drink with jam and bread
5. www prefix
Answer:
1. Queue
2. Ewe
3. O (blood type)
4. Tea
5. e - - - - - - - - - - - Q-U-O-T-E
NY Times Crossword
May 21, 2006
Ashish Vengsarkar
SPELLBOUND
1. Julius Caesar
2. Hannibal Barca
3. Christopher Columbus
4. George Washington
5. Gertrude Ederle
Answer:
They all made famous crossings:
1. Caesar crossed the Rubicon
2. Hannibal crossed the Alps
3. Columbus crossed the Atlantic
4. Washington crossed the Delaware
5. Gertrude Ederle - first woman to swim across the English Channel
PALINDROMES XVIII
NY Times Crossword
May 9, 2006
Patrick Blindauer
The answers to the clues below are palindromes:
1. Slogan for a party animal
2. Southern recipe direction
3. New Haven event with a baton
4. Start of an audiophile's wish
5. Say "An apple a day gets the worm," for example
HINTS:
The beginnings of the palindromes and the number of additional letters are:
1. REV_ _ _ _ _ _
2. STI_ _ _ _ _ _
3. YAL _ _ _ _ _ _
4. IF I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5. MI_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Answers:
1. REVEL EVER
2. STIR GRITS
3. YALE RELAY
4. IF I HAD A HIFI
5. MIX A MAXIM
Friday, May 11, 2018
NY Times Crossword
May 21, 2000
Matt Gaffney (#1-5)
Can you think of words that relate to or describe the work done by these five organizations, according to the letters of their abbreviations?
1. F.B.I.
2. N.A.S.A.
3. I.R.S.
4. E.P.A
5. U.S.A.F.
6. C.I.A.
7. D.N.A.
(Possible) Answers:
1. Finds Bad Individuals
2. Named A Shuttle Atlantis
3. Income Return Sought
4. Earth's Primary Advocate
5. Usually Stops All Foes
6. Controls Information Autocratically
7. Describes Natural Attributes
NY Times Crossword
May 18, 2000
Patrick Berry (adapted)
If a business tycoon's problem is NO BIG DEAL, what about ................
1. A sweepstakes entrant's problem?
2. An ice cream shop's problem?
3. Dorothy's problem?
4. Craps table worker's problem?
5. Jose's problem?
6. Comedian's problem?
7. Alex Trebek's problem?
8. Bob's problem?
9. Mr. Spock's problem?
10. Procrastinator's problem?
Answers:
1. No contest
2. No great shakes
3. No place like home
4. No dice
5. No way
6. No joke
7. No questions
8. No sirree
9. No nonsense
10. No time like the present
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Each clue below can be answered using the same two words in an expression in the form of ________ to ________.
For example, given the clue IN A CONFRONTATIONAL MANNER, the answer could be Face to face.
1. Type of intense combat
2. Canvass a neighborhood, as for sales (with GO)
3. Intimate conversation
4. Flight from LA to NY
5. Very crowded
6. Things lined up one directly behind the other
7. In agreement (with SEE)
8. Completely covered, as carpet on a floor
9. In a confrontational manner
10. In direct competition (with GO)
Answer:
1. Hand to hand
2. Door to door
3. Heart to heart
4. Coast to coast
5. Elbow to elbow
6. End to end
7. Eye to eye
8. Wall to wall
9. Toe to toe
10. Head to head
Each trio of words below shares a Missing Link - that is, its members have something in common, obvious or not. For example, RIVERS, NOSES, & VIOLINS can all have BRIDGES.
1. Cell..........Guard..........Sentence
2. Nail..........Cattle..........Golf ball
3. Front..........Alarm..........Friend
4. Code..........Graph..........Exam
5. Cross..........Back..........Sure
6. Cat..........Star..........Jelly
7. Crew..........Bottle..........Turtle
8. Paint..........Print..........Food
9. Leading..........Burning..........Personal
10. Battery......Bond rating......Road Service Organization
Answers:
1. Prison
2. Things you can drive
3. Things that can be false
4. Bar
5. Fire
6. Kind of fish
7. Neck
8. Finger
9. Types of questions
10. AAA
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
May 9, 2018
Mark McClain
The answers to the clues below will have something in common.
1. Site of many kids' baseball games
2. Rural sign for "Out of the office"
3. Look of unbelief
4. Their "chicks" have flown
5. Non-scientific name for an evolutionary gap
Answers:
1. Vacant lot
2. "Gone fishing"
3. Blank stare
4. Empty nesters
5. Missing link
First words are synonyms for some kind of void.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
.............. but where are the capitals?
Bruce Greig
Each clue below can be answered by two US state capitals, once you see the connection. But what's the connection?
1. Brianna polished off Jimbo's tonic water quickly.
2. That copier really is a lemon. It's broken again!
3. Connor walked over Sara's new garden - very rude!
4. Matt, Ren, Tony, please sign up Alec on Cord' team.
5. The chart for Daphne? It's with Columbo, I seem to recall.
Answers:
Each sentence conceals two state capitals:
1. briANNA POLIS off JimBO'S TONic water quickly.
2. that coPIER REally iS A LEMon. It's broken again!
3. connor walkeD OVER Sara's new garDEN-VERy rude!
4. matT, REN, TONy, please sign up AleC ON CORD's team
5. the cHART FOR Daphne? it's with columBO, I SEem to recall.
Con Pederson (#5 adapted)
The clues below can lead to five bad puns of familiar phrases.
1. Tethering tip for the owner of a wild seabird
2. Baum's lost magical mudslide book
3. What lions watch out for in the chase
4. Bar Harbor farewell
5. Soap opera featuring an entire cold bird
HINTS:
The first words of the familiar phrases are:
1. Wait
2. Oohs
3. Breaking
4. Chow
5. All
Answers:
1. Weight your tern
2. Ooze and Oz
3. Braking gnus
4. Ciao, Maine
5. All My Chilled Wren
Saturday, May 5, 2018
1. When it comes to belly buttons, what is the percentage of innies to outies?
2. What is the only metal that doesn't rust?
3. How many nanoseconds are there in a minute?
4. What's a geophasiac?
5. What is meant by the phrase HOI POLLOI?
Answers:
1. Innies - 90%
2. Gold
3. Sixty billion
4. A person who eats dirt
5. The masses - everyday people
Arlan and Linda Bushman
The answer to each clue is determined by the position of the word IT in the clue. For example, given the clue IT 10, the answer could be CLOSE TO PERFECT.
1. Tome IT
2. Pal IT Buddy
3. 9:00 a.m. 5:00p.m. IT
4. "Take IT my wife .... please."
5. IT.
6. 8:5 IT
7. Pat IT ton
8. IT
9. Spades IT
10. Pos ion
11. IT )
12. I think IT therefore I am
13. Red IT ro
Answers:
1. By the book
2. Among friends
3. After hours
4. Inside joke
5. Beside the point
6. Against the odds
7. In general
8. Next to nothing
9. Following suit
10. Out of position
11. Ahead of the curve
12. Within reason
13. In reverse order
GAMES/World of Puzzles
April, 2018
Scott Erdman
The answer to each clue below is a word or name ending in X. With one exception, each answer begins with a different letter.
1. Finger used for pointing
2. Artificial, as fur
3. False kidnapping claim, for example
4. Be more cunning than
5. Clumsy oaf
6. Pioneering photocopying company
7. Tippy-top
8. Eponym of a classic riddle
9. "Mind you own ____________!"
10. Essence
11. Whirlpool
12. Person or thing that seems to bring bad luck
13. Like certain numbers or vitamins
14. Suited for both men and women
15. Wasp's midsection
16. Kind of car, kite, office, score, or seat
17. Seemingly contradictory truth
18. Address book alternative
19. When daytime equals nighttime
20. Tailless cat
Answers:
1. Index
2. Faux
3. Hoax
4. Outfox
5. Lummox
6. Xerox
7. Apex
8. Sphinx
9. Beeswax
10. Crux
11. Vortex
12. Jinx
13. Complex
14. Unisex
15. Thorax
16. Box
17. Paradox
18. Rolodex
19. Equinox
20. Manx
1. Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
2. A newly-married couple were going through a rough patch.
"Admit it, Jayne," the husband said, "the only reason you married me was the ten million dollars my grandfather left me."
"That's not true," answered Jayne, "it doesn't matter to me who left you the money."
3. "If I had to live my life over, I'd live over a saloon."
(W.C. Fields)
Friday, May 4, 2018
May 17, 1995
Ed Early (Ex. and #1-2)
How many familiar phrases can you think of that contain two or more human body parts? For example, given the clue More than ready for battle, the answer could be Armed to the teeth.
1. Emaciated
2. (Living) With nothing in reserve
3. Far more qualified than others
4. Medical device used during by-pass surgery
5. Argue bitterly
6. Very crowded
7. Stay alert
8. What most babies do before walking
9. Medical specialty
10. Children's song with movements
Answers:
1. All skin and bones
2. From hand to mouth
3. Head and shoulders above the rest
4. Heart-lung machine
5. Fight tooth and nail
6. Cheek to jowl
7. Keep your eyes and ears open
8. Crawl on their hands and knees
9. Ear, nose, and throat (ENT)
10. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,
Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose
Thursday, May 3, 2018
UNUSUAL WORDS XX
Joseph Appel
Here is a list of words I don't like:
1. MUESLI - a grain high in fiber
2. RIPOSTE - a quick, clever reply
3. LECHWE - an African antelope
4. CHIPOTLE - a chili pepper used in cooking
5. LAGNIAPPE - a bonus or extra gift
6. GRILSE - a young Atlantic salmon
7. JAPE - a joke or trick
8. CHARY - cautious, wary, not giving freely
9. TROPE - a figure of speech
AT
VENT
VERY
QUIP
LATE
TURN
ASTER
STATE
MOTION
QUALITY
Answer:
TURN does not belong in the list. All of the other words can be changed into new ones when preceded by E.
Credit:
GAMES/World of Puzzles
April, 2018
David Baskind
Answer each clue by matching it with one of the choices below. The choices are in random order. Wordplay is fair play.
1. Beginning of the end
2. Word on the street
3. They're all ears
4. Orderly fashion
5. Pilot's place
6. Get to the point
7. Pocket of the Mideast
8. Growing pains
9. Small world
10. Gambling lure
CHOICES:
a. Taper
b. Scrubs
c. Globe
d. Cornfields
e. Pita
f. A lot to offer
g. Stop
h. T
i. Water heater
j. Weeds
Answers:
1. h - T (beginning letter)
2. g - Stop (STOP sign)
3. d - Cornfields (ears of corn)
4. b - Scrubs (hospital worker)
5. i - Water heater (pilot light)
6. a - Taper
7. e - Pita (bread)
8. j - Weeds
9. c - Globe
10. f - A lot to offer ( A lotto offer)
Credits:
7: Joel Fagliano
10: Trip Payne
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
April 15, 2018
Alex Bajcz
PREPOSITION PROPOSITION
The answers to each pair of clues below will have the exact same words, differing only by a hyphen between the first two words. For example, given the clue pair WAIT IN A QUEUE and UNDERSTUDY'S DELIVERY, the answers would be STAND IN LINE and STAND-IN LINE. The hyphenated phrase will always answer the second clue.
1. Move (as to a new country) and wagers for a gym exercise
2. Warned and a scam alert
3. Arrange words for instruments and soundtrack for a fight
4.Gain momentum and a bad thing to see under a truck's hood
5. Sad news at a hospital and a timely entrance
6. Have an emotional breakdown and musical encores often
7. Be perfect in every way and an unrecruited athlete's bottleful
Answers:
1. Pull up stakes and pull-up stakes
2. Put on notice and put-on notice
3. Set to music and set-to music
4. Pick up steam and pick-up steam
5. Dead on arrival and dead-on arrival
6. Go to pieces and go-to pieces
7. Walk on water and walk-on water
Many words are almost anagrams. That is, they differ by only a single letter - although they often look very different from each other. For example, MUTUAL and AUTUMN would be anagrams except for one letter - the L in MUTUAL and the N in AUTUMN.
Match each word in Column I with its one-letter-off anagram in Column II.
I II
1. OBLONG LOUNGE
2. ENOUGH MEMBER
3. DEARTH AGENDA
4. SCOUR LAGOON
5. VAGUE THEORY
6. EMBLEM HARDER
7. PERMIT OCCUR
8. MUSEUM GUAVA
9. HOTTER IMPORT
10. DANGER SUMMER
Answers:
1. OBLONG - LAGOON
2. ENOUGH - LOUNGE
3. DEARTH - HARDER
4. SCOUR - OCCUR
5. VAGUE - GUAVA
6. EMBLEM - MEMBER
7. PERMIT - IMPORT
8. MUSEUM - SUMMER
9. HOTTER - THEORY
10. DANGER - AGENDA
Add the designated letter to each word and re-arrange the letters to get a new word.
1. RICH + O
2. DOING + I
3. EVICT + A
4. NOISE + L
5. POISED + T
6. LOG IN + E
7. GREEN + E
8. ROUGH + C
9. OPERA + L
10. COURT + Y
HINTS:
1. Music
2. Color
3. Sore
4. Many
5. Earnest money
6. Many
7. Fail to keep your word
8. Oscar on Sesame Street
9. Supervised freedom
10. Loud speaking out
Answers:
1. CHOIR
2. INDIGO
3. ACTIVE
4. LESION
5. DEPOSIT
6. LEGION
7. RENEGE
8. GROUCH
9. PAROLE
10. OUTCRY
Fill in the blanks with words or letters which will complete the word or phrase beginning on the left and begin the word or phrase ending on the right. The number of blanks indicates the number of letters in the missing word.
1. CAT _ _ _ KITE
2. CROCK _ _ _ HOLE
3. TRICK _ _ _ _ CAP
4. UP _ _ _ _ _ BACK
5. TEN _ _ _ _ _ READ
6. SNOW _ _ _ _ _ WOOD
7. SECURITY _ _ _ _ _ DOG
8. OFF _ _ _ _ _ _ LOADED
9. DEATH _ _ _ _ _ _ GIRL
10. SCAR _ _ ROAD
HINTS:
The first of the missing letters:
1. B
2. P
3. K
4. S
5. S
6. D
7. G
8. S
9. V
10. A
Answers:
1. catBOXkite
2. crockPOThole
3. trickKNEEcap
4. upSCALEback
5. tenSPEEDread
6. snowDRIFTwood
7. securityGUARDdog
8. offSPRINGloaded
9. deathVALLEYgirl
10. scarABroad
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
FBI AGENTS
CARRIAGE TRADE
CRIBBAGE BOARD
2. What do the four words below have in common?
FLY
POP
LINE
GROUND
3. What do the following phrase and words have in common?
SURE THING
STAIR
PILLOW
ABACUS
HINTS:
1. It has to do with a time of life.
2. It has to do with a sport.
3. Each word suggests a familiar three-word phrase.
Answers:
1)
fbi AGEents
carriAGE trade
cribbAGE board - - - Middle age
2. They all are a type of OUT in baseball:
Fly out, pop out, line out, ground out
3.
Sure thing - BET ON IT
Stair - STEP ON IT
Pillow - SLEEP ON IT
Abacus - COUNT ON IT
Credits:
1: NY Times Crossword
April 11, 2006
Lee Glickstein and Nancy Salomon
2: LA Times Crossword
April 16, 2018
Jake Braun
1. A couple posed for a picture. What day of the week was it?
2. What do achieving perpetual motion, discovering the Fountain of Youth, and programming a VCR have in common?
3. How much does a pair of pirate earrings cost?
Answers:
1. SATurday
2. They're all impossible.
3. $2.00 - A buck an ear
Credits:
1. Arthur Eaglejam
2. William S. Cotter
3. Adam G. Perl
1. Common wooden beam size
2. Roger
3. Never closed
4. Common photo size
5. "Natural" in craps
6. Shared equally
7. Index card
8. Standard notebook paper
9. Standard baking dish
10. Emergency telephone or the date of the attack on the World Trade Centers
Answers:
1. 2 x 4
2. 10 - 4
3. 24/7
4. 8 x 10
5. 7 or 11*
6. 50 - 50
7. 3 x 5
8. 8 1/2 x 11
9. 9 x 13
10. 9-1-1 or 9/11
*7- Eleven convenience stores always write out the 11.
April 11, 2010
Patrick Berry (#1-5)
Ignoring spelling, each of the following words can be changed in the same way to form new words. What change has to be made, and what are the new words?
1. CUE
2. MISS
3. TREE
4. WARREN
5. MY
6. GILL
7. FALL
8. TOES
9. DEIGN
HINTS:
A. PAR could be added to the list.
B. The change involves adding the same sound to the end of each of the words.
Answers:
Adding the sound TEE to each word will change it into a new one:
1. CUTIE
2. MISTY
3. TREATY
4. WARRANTY
5. MIGHTY
6. GUILTY
7. FAULTY
8. TOASTY
9. DAINTY